


Hidden In Shadows

by Kaysigns



Series: Shadows of the Past, Present, and Future [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Bogeyman, Dad Thomas, Kid Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Kid Logic | Logan Sanders, Kid Morality | Patton Sanders, Kid Sides (Sanders Sides), Teenage Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, bogeyman!virgil, virgil just wants to be loved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22105135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaysigns/pseuds/Kaysigns
Summary: Virgil is the world’s new bogeyman, but for whatever reason he doesn’t have any desire to kill. Instead, he watches over the children, especially three certain children in the Sanders’ household
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton & Thomas Sanders
Series: Shadows of the Past, Present, and Future [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757491
Comments: 214
Kudos: 638





	1. Typical Night

The bogeyman had been defeated. It was all across the news. People around the world cheered, though they knew it was only temporary. Bogeymen never stayed dead. Soon a new one would manifest, an abomination molded from children's fears. Darkness interrupted the bright morning, and people knew it had come back. Parents told their children to keep their lights on, nightlights plugged in to every electrical outlet. People knew they still had about five years until it would start appearing and taking their poor kids' souls, but it was better safe than sorry. It was better than testing your luck, and praying that your child wouldn't be swallowed up by the monster of darkness.

Virgil sat alone in his abode, lying back lazily against the wall as he watched the sun slowly set. He turned back to his drawing, adding a few shadows to it before setting it down and standing up. He stretched and yawned, a crack going through his back as the sun set fully. "And, here we go again." He mumbled to himself, before melting into the shadows to make his nightly rounds.

He appeared in the shadowy corner of a five-year-old's bedroom, spotting the broken nightlight still plugged into the wall. Their parents had forgotten to get them a new light. They always forgot. He sighed, seeing the tiny figure tremble with fear under their blankets, and couldn't help but wonder if he was really the only one causing that fear. He travelled through the shadows again, moving into their parents' bedroom and wrinkling his nose. Smelled like booze and cigarettes. Nothing out of the ordinary. Virgil took a still-lit cigarette butt and put it to the father's skin, hearing him cry out in pain. He smirked, before throwing up a middle finger for his own satisfaction and melting into the shadows once again.

The next house he went to had a small ten-year-old girl. Virgil went to this house at least once a week, though not for the same reasons as the other house. He silently watched the girl start to drift off to sleep. Virgil tried to come a bit closer, but felt something on the floor a bit too late. A loud squeak sounded, and he inwardly groaned. Of course one of the dog's squeaky toys would just have to be there right now! The girl shot up in bed, staring wide-eyed at Virgil, before screaming a word all too familiar to him. Her mother immediately barged in, armed with a frying pan held firmly in two hands. She growled at him, before charging and smacking him in the face with it. Virgil hissed in pain, retreating quickly into the shadows and ending up back in the damp cold cave he called home. He rubbed his cheek, yelping at the sudden pain. Broken cheekbone, just great. He stayed in the shadows for a bit longer, feeling them working their dark magic to heal it. He took a shaky breath, tentatively touching it again to assure that it was properly healed, before skipping all his other usual houses to head to his last. His favorite.

He appeared in a dark corner, seeing that most of the lights were still on in the house. It was a Saturday; they must be having a movie night. He watched silently as Roman, the eldest of the three at ten, ran out of the kitchen carrying a big bowl of popcorn. There was a noise of protest as Mr. Sanders chased him out, a smile tugging at his lips. The youngest, Patton, peeked over the edge of the couch, watching as Roman ran from his father, spilling popcorn everywhere he went.

"Alright, alright, that's enough, Ro! You're making a mess!" Roman pouted, dropping the popcorn onto the table and crossing his arms stubbornly. Patton looked around, before letting out a small whine and asking, "Where's Lolo?" Virgil blinked in confusion. Who was 'Lolo'?

"He's probably in your room, wanna go grab him?" Mr. Sanders asked. Patton's eyes widened with excitement and he climbed off the couch, scrambling up the stairs as fast as a toddler could. Mr. Sanders let Roman choose the movie while he cleaned up the popcorn mess. In only a few minutes there was Patton's excited babbling coming from the top of the stairs, and the sound of him sliding down them. Hesitant footprints followed him down, and a new face peaked out. The eight-year-old slowly descended the stairs, looking out with wide-eyes behind glasses too big for his face. "Heya, bud. You wanna join us for movie night?"

"Movie night?"

"It's a tradition!" Roman shouted, hopping in place. "New brothers calls for a movie night!" Oh, so he was adopted recently. Not exactly a surprise; Mr. Sanders was always fawning over kids. Why wouldn't he want another? The new kid hummed. "Okay! What movie is it?" He went to sit with his new brothers and father, Patton immediately latching onto him and giggling.

It was always so nice and warm and homey at the Sanders' residence, the complete opposite of Virgil's cave. No matter how often he came here, he just couldn't get enough of it. Still, he knew he was unwelcome here. He watched with a hint of jealousy, or maybe it was longing, as Logan fit in with them perfectly. The four of them, while as chaotic as their family was, were perfect for each other. He watched as weeks and months passed by, watched as the three kids grew closer and closer. He knew this was wrong. He was the bogeyman, he was supposed to scare them, to feast on their souls, to give them nightmares that will never leave.

But why did he want to be one of them so badly? Why did he want them to look at him without any fear? Why did he want to be protected by some kind of parental figure? Why, why, why?

A scream tore through a five-year-old's throat. He blinked out of his stupor to see big blue eyes staring at him with fear as he hid more under his blankets. Patton. Mr. Sanders barged into the room, a tripod in hand. His eyes locked on Virgil and he screamed in fear, averting his gaze and swinging, smacking him luckily not too hard in the face with the tripod, still sending him to the ground with the force. He grasped for the shadows and felt them pull him away, pull him where he was safe, yes, but cold. He took a shaky breath, curling in on himself and feeling the shadows wrap around him and heal him as best they could, providing only a small bit of comfort. Just another typical night.


	2. Seeking Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil reminisces about his creation, being pulled out of it as Patton begins to have nightmares

He remembered the time when he didn't care. It was a brief moment near the beginning of his life, but he still remembered it. He was trapped in those shadows for the first five years of his existence, with his sole purpose getting hammered into his head by the darkness. He was a monster. His purpose was to torment children and take their souls to fuel his own. So when the darkness finally spat him out as a being around the same age as Patton is now, that's what he tried to do, wanting to make the darkness proud.

He went to the house of a boy maybe a few months to a year younger than himself and stood over him, ready to take his soul. He watched as the human child's eyes rolled back in his head and a white glow came from his chest. And it scared him. He stopped immediately, pulling his hands to his chest, staring down as the person about as old as he was gasped and shuddered, staring at him in horror. And just like that, he ran back into the shadows. He had been scared that they would be disappointed in him, upset that he hadn't had the guts to do it. There was silence. The shadows and darkness didn't care about him, and for that the young bogeyman was relieved.

Ten years later, and here Virgil was, silently watching from the corner of the Sanders' kids' bedroom, making sure nothing would happen to them as they slept. No robbers or murderers or anything of the like had yet to come in since he started watching them, but that didn't mean they wouldn't come. The three kids seemed to be sound asleep, Roman snoring as loud as ever. Virgil walked quietly over to his bed, picking up the blanket he had kicked to the ground and carefully draping it back over him. He mumbled something in his sleep, before hugging his dragon plushie tighter to his chest and kissing its head. Virgil smirked and began heading back to his spot, when a whine went through the air along with a rustling of sheets. Virgil looked over to see Patton tossing and turning, fear on his face as he hugged his cat and bear plushies tighter and tighter. He padded over to Patton, unsure of what to do. Sure, he had seen them have nightmares before, but they were never this bad.

Virgil cautiously took a seat at the edge of Patton's bed, watching his expression to make sure he wouldn't wake up. He took a hand and steadily ran his clawed fingers through Patton's hair. He had seen Thomas do it before and knew it usually calmed him down. A small whimper left his lips, and he buried his face in his plushies. Virgil continued to stroke his hair, shushing him and trying to tell him everything was okay. Slowly the trembling died down, his grip on his plushies loosened, and his face went lack. Virgil breathed a sigh of relief, still not pausing the repetitive stroking motion. Patton shifted a bit, mumbling sleepily, "Dad?"

Blue eyes met purple. Virgil's eyes widened, his body freezing up. Patton's eyes widened, and he whimpered, hiding the bottom half of his face with his blanket as he looked up at him in fear. "D-Don't scream." Virgil whispered, finally finding his voice. Patton blinked up at him, nodding hesitantly. Virgil gulped, nodding awkwardly back.

"Are you gonna take my soul?"

"N-No, no of course not."

"Then...what're you doing here?" Virgil opened his mouth, but no words came out. What was he doing here? This was so...stupid! Still, he had to say something! Something scary, that'll terrify Patton for the rest of his life—

"You were having a nightmare. I was trying to help." Virgil mentally slapped himself. Goddammit, now his image was ruined! He's sure when he dies all the humans he didn't kill will point and laugh at his dead corpse as it slowly melts away into shadow. Then the next bogeyman will be embarrassed by the mess he was in his previous life. He just ruined the bogeyman reputation, and no reincarnation of himself will ever forgive him!

"Thank you." Virgil froze, focusing back on Patton, who was staring at him with big, curiosity-filled eyes. "What?"

"Th-Thank you, mister." Patton gave him a nervous smile, before pulling his blanket farther over his face and closing his eyes. Virgil stared at him, his hand still hovering over his head. Slowly, he began running his claws through his hair again. Patton was noticeably tenser at first, then slowly began drifting off to sleep, his body going limp again. Virgil took a shaky breath, unable to believe what had happened. This child, who had woken up to see the bogeyman himself, not only sitting next to him, but touching him, just went back to sleep without Virgil even leaving his side. And he had thanked him. That was the most unbelievable part of all of this! Virgil let out a breathless laugh, smiling down at Patton.

"You're welcome, Pat."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaand the next chapter won't be tomorrow and could possibly be in another week or something. I have a lot of projects going on right now and I never write outlines or anything. At least I feel really passionate about this story so that'll probably help it along a bit more :)


	3. Logan is a Curious Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Patton tells Logan about his encounter with the bogeyman, Logan becomes curious and decides to ask Virgil some questions  
> aka child Logan is a precious baby

Virgil was only more careful after that event. Despite how incredible it felt to actually be acknowledged, even if it was a bit fearful, he knew he shouldn’t try and make it a normal occurrence, or even risk it happening a second time. He continued to visit the Sanders’ household, but always kept to the shadows, never coming out even when everyone was asleep and the only light in the rooms were from the many nightlights in their plugs. He was perfectly content with watching from a distance, never getting too close, never interfering.

He watched as they got ready for bed, having stayed up to watch a movie together like they did every other week. Mr. Sanders picked up a sleeping Patton, carefully carrying him to the kids’ shared room. Logan yawned and followed after, Roman following as well after shoving another handful of popcorn in his mouth and mumbling out protests of not wanting to go to bed. Their dad got them ready for bed, and after an hour, they had fallen asleep.

Virgil guarded them from the shadows as he did every night, watching them sleep, and occasionally toss or turn, and making sure they were alright. Logan was shifting around a lot, curling into himself tighter and tighter, before turning over, letting out a whine or groan, and repeating the process. Virgil bit at his lip, giving in and leaving the shadows, stalking silently over to the bed.

Logan’s shifting seemed to steadily slow as Virgil approached, something somewhat unnerving to him. Once he was close enough to touch him, he cautiously held out a hand, wondering if he could try and comfort him in the same way he had done with Patton.

Quickly Logan shot up in bed, a flashlight shining into Virgil’s eyes. Virgil hissed, backing away, blindly reaching for the shadows. He heard Logan’s gasp, and the flashlight was turned off. He blinked, watching as the dots dancing before his eyes slowly faded before turning back to Logan. His big blue eyes almost glowed in the darkness as he looked Virgil up and down.

“Patton was right.” He whispered. Virgil blinked, trying to figure out what he meant. He wasn’t given any time to process before the questioning.

“So you’re the bogeyman, right? Is that why you look so creepy? Can you shapeshift? Do you remember anything from your last life? Is your body made of shadows? How would that work? Are you able to control the shadows? Are you in charge of givin’ nightmares? Are—” He took a moment to catch his breath, opening his mouth again to ask more. Virgil slammed his hand over Logan’s mouth, feeling his hot breath on his hand as he tried in vain to ask more questions.

“Ok geez, cut that out!” Virgil hissed. Logan blinked innocently up at him, his hand reaching around blindly for his glasses behind him.

His hand swat his glasses to the ground, and without really thinking, Virgil pounced, snatching them up before they hit the floor. He let out a sigh of relief, looking back over at Logan. While a bit startled, there wasn’t an ounce of fear in his eyes. Virgil hesitantly handed over the glasses, which Logan took gratefully.

“Are you going to be quiet now?” Virgil asked. Logan nodded quickly, and he took his hand off his mouth. He looked Virgil over again, curiosity filling his gaze. Virgil sighed. “I don’t get you kids.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen Patton scream and cry when he sees a spider, one that’s not even poisonous. But you and him are able to stare death in the face and be able to form at least coherent sentences.” Logan tilted his head. “Have you been watching us?”

“Shit, I, uh...no.” Virgil mumbled. “And don’t repeat that word I just said.”

“What, shit?”

“Yes, don’t repeat that! Tha-That’s bad!”

“Then why can you say it?” Logan whined.

“Because, oh my god.” Virgil groaned. “Because I’m bad. Bogeyman, evil. Shadows, death, soul-stealing, bad.”

“That sounds really feelingsy.”

“Oh my god, what the fuck is wrong with you kids?” He whispered to himself.

“What does fuck mean?”

“No, stop. Just...never repeat anything I say.” Virgil quickly glanced around at Patton and Roman, amazed to find them still fast asleep. “How are you so calm, anyway?”

“What do you mean?” Virgil sighed heavily. “I mean how are so calm around me? You’re, what, eight?”

“Eight and nine months.” Logan corrected.

“Eight and nine months. Aren’t you scared that I’m gonna steal your soul or something?”

“Well you would’ve stolen my soul already if you wanted it. What do bogeymen do with stolen souls anyway? Is it like you have a collection of souls or do you eat ‘em? Can you eat a soul? I saw it in an anime Dad was watching. What does a soul taste like? Does it vary based on the person?”

Virgil stared at this child casually asking a soul-stealer about souls, as if he was confident that he wouldn’t have his soul stolen himself. Granted, Virgil would never even consider taking the soul of one of the Sanders’ kids, but that was besides the point. The point was that he was doing all this so fearlessly, nothing but curiosity fueling him. He didn’t see Virgil as bad. He was just curious. And that confused Virgil to no end.

Virgil took a shaky breath, coming a few inches closer to Logan. “Alright, how ‘bout this: you get three questions. I’ll answer them as best I can, and then I’ll leave. How does that sound?”

“Why can’t you stay? Three questions aren’t enough!”

“Three questions, that’s all I’ll answer.” He stated bluntly.

“Okay.” Logan mumbled, face scrunching up in thought as he tried to find the perfect three to ask. Virgil smirked, hesitantly allowing himself to relax, and give himself a moment of happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love writing logan as a little kid so much he's so adorable with all his questions and his innocence omg


	4. Roman Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That awkward moment when a ten year old wants to fight you but you're an eight foot tall shadow creature, so now you have a choice to make

“So how does your umbrakinesis work exactly?”

“I don’t know.” Logan huffed, clearly not satisfied with that. He leaned in closer, asking again. “Is it like the shadows are alive and you control them? Are they like animals or pets? How does it feel when you control them?” Virgil rolled his eyes, smirking. “Why’re you so curious about this anyway?”

“It’s fascinating! I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be scientifically impossible to control shadows, which means you’re defying the laws of physics whenever you do any of that stuff!”

“Well according to physics, I’m not really supposed to exist either.”

“Exactly!” Virgil silently played along, soaking up anything the kid had to say as he rambled on and on.

He had told himself he wouldn’t come back, that the day Logan saw him would be the day he stopped coming to the Sanders’ household. And he was able to stay away, at least for a few days. After those first three nights in his cold cave he began craving the warmth and comfort of their abode, even though he knew he wasn’t welcome. Logan not being afraid of him didn’t take away the shame he felt when Patton looked at him with confused fear.

But after grappling with himself for another few days, he found himself hiding in their shadows once again, watching them go through their day perfectly content, seeing them share smiles with each other that he secretly wished were directed at him.

And then Logan somehow managed to spot him in the darkness. He claimed that the shadows appeared darker where he was hiding, but whether that was true or not Virgil couldn’t tell. That’s what brought them here, sitting once again on Logan’s bed as he grilled Virgil for more answers to his never-ending stream of questions.

“Alright kid, it’s getting pretty late. You should get some sleep.” Logan’s smile dropped, his eyes growing big.

“What? No, I still have more questions!”

“You can ask them some other time.” Virgil stood up, stretching. He glanced down at Logan, then quickly looked away to avoid his begging eyes. “Please, just one more question!” Logan whined. Virgil glanced down again, before groaning. “Alright, fine. One more question. Make it good.”

Logan thought for a moment before looking up and asking “Where do you go?” Virgil blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I mean you don’t stay in the shadows all the time, right? Don’t you have a place to stay?”

“Well...yeah. Of course I do.”

“Do you have parents? And siblings?” Virgil bit his lip, shuffling awkwardly. “No...”

“Are the shadows technically your parents? I mean they created you and stuff? Or could you get—”

“Alright, I said one question, that’s three. Now get the fu—” He cleared his throat, “Uh...go to bed.”

“What were you about to say?”

“No more questions. Bed, now.” Logan pouted, lying down in bed, looking up at him.

“Goodnight Virgil.”

“Goodnight.”

It slowly became a common occurrence. Virgil would come to watch over them for the night, and Logan would ask questions and chatter excitedly. Every once and a while Patton would wake up and nervously ask a few questions of his own, clearly still not entirely comfortable with Virgil’s presence, but he was trying.

Virgil watched as Logan slowly drifted off to sleep. The kid had been really tired, only asking two questions before Virgil demanded that he go to sleep. He made sure Logan was comfortable and sleeping peacefully, before moving over to his usual spot to watch for danger. His eyes drifted across the room, slowly focusing on a small plushie lying on the ground next to Roman’s bed. He must have dropped it.

He slinked over to Roman’s bed, picking up the plush dragon. Just when he was about to place it next to the sleeping child, Roman jumped out of bed, rolling between Virgil’s legs and snatching up his toy sword. “En guarde!” He shouted, pointing the tip of the sword up at Virgil’s chest. Virgil stared wide-eyed at him, moreso impressed than anything.

Roman stood up with a proud, dignified expression as he jabbed the sword into Virgil’s chest. “So you’re the foul bogeyman who’s been tormenting my brothers all this time!”

“What made you think that?”

“Don’t interrupt! I’ve been-”

“You know if you keep shouting you’ll probably wake them up. Might not want to do that.” Roman huffed indignantly, standing up as tall as his ten year old self could. “My brothers have told me all about you! How you’re “caring” and “kind” and all that stuff!” He air-quoted with an almost disgusted tone. “I don’t believe it one bit! You’re just trying to use them, that’s it, isn't it?”

“Oh definitely.” Virgil spoke sarcastically.

“I knew it! Wait…” Roman pouted, glaring up at me. “You’re making fun of me!” Virgil smirked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and calmly walking back over to his spot. Roman scoffed, throwing his sword down on his bed.

“Don’t just walk away from me, villain! I was giving my hero speech!”

“Your hero speech, huh? Alright, fine, go ahead.” Roman cleared his throat, picking his sword up and jumping onto his bed, the extra height making him just barely up to Virgil’s shoulders. “I was told the tale of the previous bogeyman’s death when I was but a wee infant.” He spoke in a grandiose tone. “And I knew, from the moment that I heard the tale of this evil entity, that I was to be the one to vanquish it!”

“You really don’t skip out in English class, do you? Jesus christ, I didn’t think kids knew those kinds of words.”

“And it appears the time of your demise has finally come! Prepare to face my just punishment!” He pointed the sword at Virgil, who simply responded with a deadpan expression, raising an eyebrow. Roman jumped off the bed, stumbling a bit as he tried to stand upright. He got his sword ready to swing.

“Ro-Ro? Are you sword-fighting the monster in the closet again? Did it come back?” Patton asked fearfully. Roman glanced over at Patton, before smacking Virgil’s leg as hard as he could. Virgil held back a snicker at the soft attack.  _ Don’t destroy the child’s pride, Virgil. That would be rude even for you. _ He thought to himself.

Patton scurried over to the light switch, flicking it on quickly. Virgil hissed, retreating back into the shadows. Patton yelped at the sound, before looking over the room and spotting him just barely hidden away in the darkness. “Oh, hi Virgil! Ro-Ro, you finally met Virgil!” Roman puffed out his chest, trying to sheath his sword before realising he didn’t have a sheath, then simply dropped it to the ground. “I have indeed, noble prince. I was tryin’ to vanquish him for you!”

“What, why?”

“He’s evil! He’s the bogeyman!”

Patton pouted. “Virgil’s really nice!”

“He’s mind-controlled you with his scary bogeyman powers! That’s it!” Roman spun around, strutting over to Virgil. “Now listen here, Dr. Facilier! You dare mind-control Patton into doing your will? I’ll fight you and I’ll win!” Patton ran over to get between the two, trying to get Roman to calm down.

There was a knock on the door. “Kids? Why’re you so loud in there?” Mr. Sanders asked. The doorknob began to turn. Patton jumped, running and scrambling over Logan’s bed to get to his own, waking Logan in the process. Roman glared at Virgil, before climbing into bed and pretending to sleep. Virgil quickly melted into the shadows, teleporting off just as he heard the door open completely. Close call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roman has the spirit of a ten year old English major who just got out of college


	5. New Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Virgil make amends and Virgil is officially called the big brother we all knew him to be

Virgil watched with a dull expression as a sword was pointed to his chest. “Begone foul demon!” Roman shouted. “Oh no. I’m so terrified of your plastic sword.” Roman huffed indignantly, pouting as Virgil walked back over to his corner next to Logan.

Roman had told Mr. Sanders about “the bogeyman tormenting his brothers,” and while Virgil thought that the father hadn’t believed everything Roman had told him, he still took extra safety precautions. The next time Virgil came to their house, Mr. Sanders was asleep with Patton, Roman, and Logan curled up around him on his bed. After about a week, however, he allowed them to go back to sleeping in their room, instead choosing to put even more nightlights in, just to be safe.

Logan and Patton had made quick work of turning off as many as they could to allow Virgil to come out and talk to them, much to Roman’s annoyance. The kid in question plopped down on his bed, his arms crossed tightly across his chest as he glared at Virgil from across the room.

It felt awkward, Roman knowing about his existence and, instead of screaming in horror, making it his sworn duty to kill him. Virgil wasn’t sure whether to feel entertained by it or ashamed of himself for looking so horrifying to warrant that response.

It didn’t really matter though. Logan and Patton trusted and liked him. For what reason he wasn’t sure, but it was enough. The two of them were enough for him. He could ignore any of Roman’s remarks about him and just see it as a kid behaving how a kid should behave towards him. It didn’t hurt him. It didn’t. Not at all.

She was over again. The babysitter. God, did Virgil hate her. It wasn’t that she was a bad person, per say. It’s just that she was neglectful and rude in the most annoying way possible, she yelled a lot, she always smelled a bit like cigarettes and—okay, so maybe she was a bit of a bitch, and maybe Virgil did have a bit of a reason to hate her. He kept that to himself, though.

It was a Friday afternoon, and the kids had just arrived home from school. The babysitter was already high out of her mind, not even responding when Patton nervously waved in front of her face. The three quickly rushed off to their room, Roman claiming the desk and pulling out some paper to draw.

Logan raced around, drawing the blinds closed, turning off the lights, and trying to make it as dark as possible. Patton looked around with big, wide eyes, spotting the patch of shadow Virgil was hiding in and waving with a small giggle. He smirked, coming out of the darkness and waving back. Logan hopped over to me, asking a question he had thought up during school. Roman simply glared over his shoulder at me, groaning dramatically as he began to color furiously.

Suddenly the babysitter screamed something unintelligible out. Patton jumped, eyes snapping to the door. There was a moment of silence before the babysitter screamed out Patton and Logan’s names, saying Mr. Sanders was on the phone. The two met each other’s eyes nervously, before Logan glanced back at Virgil, and the two ran out the door.

Virgil turned to Roman awkwardly. He was mumbling about the babysitter under his breath and how much he hated her as he continued to color. He went silent for a few minutes until, placing down his crayon, he picked up his drawing, satisfied. Jumping out of his chair he ran a few steps, shouting “Dad!” He then stopped, remembering who was here, and frowned. 

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to wait another two hours for him to get back.”

“I know! I didn’t forget! You didn’t have to remind me, because I didn’t forget! I didn’t!” He huffed, turning back to the desk and curling his legs up to his chest. Virgil walked over, peering down at his drawing.

“It looks good. Your dad’ll like it.” Roman blinked, looking up at him with a confused expression. “You’re my sworn enemy though.”

“I am? Oh wow, I didn’t notice from the dozens of times you’ve already told me.”

“You don’t compliment your sworn enemy!” Virgil gave the kid an exasperated sigh. “But what if I don’t wanna be your sworn enemy?” Roman froze, as if he had never even considered that before.

“You...don’t wanna be sworn enemies?”

“Yeah, who the fuuu—fridge...wants a sworn enemy?”

“What about a fridge?”

“Why would you want a sworn enemy?” He spoke quickly, mentally berating himself for continuously almost cursing at children.

Roman thought for a moment, his brows knit together in deep concentration. Then he pulled out his toy sword and exclaimed, “Because all the heroes have a sworn enemy to defeat!”

“Okay...and why am I your sworn enemy?”

“Well...you’re evil and scary. With sharp teeth.” He motioned with two fingers as if trying to give himself fangs. Virgil held back a snicker. “And you, umm…” Roman continued, “you...threaten Logan and Patton. With, umm...with something!” He pointed a finger accusingly, though as he thought more his argument began to hold less and less ground.

“And you...just said Dad’ll like my drawing, and you make Patton and Logan happy, and...you haven’t really done any bad things yet.” His voice got quieter and quieter as he thought more. Roman hummed to himself, slowly grabbing a new sheet of paper and beginning to draw in silence again.

Patton and Logan came back in, happily chatting to each other. They eventually began playing a game of chess together, and Virgil crept over to mediate. Overall it was a peaceful day. After an hour of silence from Roman, he stood up from the desk and made his way over to them. Virgil raised an eyebrow, looking down at the paper in his hands. He sat next to him, gently handing it over.

“I made you this. Do you like it?” He asked in a soft tone usually reserved for when one of his brothers were upset. Virgil looked down at the drawing, and his eyes immediately began to water.

It was a drawing of the three human kids around him, all happy to have him there. At the top of the drawing was an apology letter to him, apologizing for what Roman had said and how he would consider Virgil a brother.

Virgil didn’t realize that tears had begun to fall until he heard Logan say “Woah! Your tears are black!”

“Virgil? What’s wrong? Do you need hugs? Or bandaids? Are you hurt?” Patton whimpered, hobbling over to wrap his arms around him. Virgil exhaled, gently placing a hand on Patton’s back. He looked over to Roman, who glanced up at him nervously, worry hiding in his eyes. Virgil held out his hand and slowly, anxiously, pulled Roman closer. The kid was stiff and scared at first, but slowly grew comfortable again, burrowing into Virgil’s side. Patton realized the situation was good, giggling a bit in relief, before grabbing Logan’s hand and eagerly getting him to join. Logan giggled, before curling up with Patton in Virgil’s lap, the two of them quickly falling asleep.

“You didn’t have to apologize, you know. I get it.” Virgil whispered. Roman scoffed, clinging onto Virgil’s jacket a bit tighter. “It made me feel better. I was bein’ a bit of a meanie anyway.”

“Nah, you’re fine.” Roman thought for a moment.

“Does this mean you’re the big brother now?”

“You seriously want  _ me _ to be your brother?” Roman shrugged. “I mean, isn’t that what you are now?” Virgil blinked, looking down at Logan and Patton in his lap.  _ I guess that is what I am _ , he thought. His eyes widened in horror.  _ Oh god. I accidentally became the big brother to three humans.  _ _ What the fuck do I do? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not as proud of this chapter as the others but hey, i needed to advance the plot, even if it feels a bit cheesy  
> also I wrote this all in one sitting in 2 hours because I just updated one of my other fics and the writing demon decided to possess my soul


	6. Time to Confuse Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas's life was perfectly normal until his children started talking about this new big brother they have. He doesn't know what to do, this was never mentioned in those childcare books he read

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bruh the second spring break started my internet was just like "welp time to go" and after four days it's finally come back

It was a strange adjustment to make, having humans around that seemed to actually enjoy his presence. He definitely would never get used to them seeing him in the shadows and just casually pulling him out like it was normal.

Virgil watched from the shadows as the four humans ate dinner. Logan had been talking about something that had happened at school, which had somehow led to an argument between him and Roman about horses. Mr. Sanders was trying his best to keep the peace, but the two just kept getting louder and louder. Patton pouted at the two before his gaze drifted from Logan to the shadows behind him where Virgil resided. Virgil smirked, glancing at their dad to ensure he wouldn’t see him, then waving at Patton. The toddler giggled, waving back. Mr. Sanders furrowed his brow, following Patton’s gaze. Virgil quickly hid within the shadows again, unseen by the visibly confused father. He bit back a snicker. God, it’s gonna be fun messing with him. Patton went back to pouting at Logan and Roman. 

“Virgey heard you two fighting an’ he doesn’t like it!” He spoke loudly, giving his brothers a stare that looked hilariously stern for a five-year-old. Roman and Logan blinked at him for a moment, before Roman huffed and resigned, crossing his arms indignantly. This only made their poor father even more confused.

“Who’s “Virgey”?”

“He’s our big brother!” Patton chirped. Virgil covered his mouth, his body trembling with laughter. Time to confuse the shit out of him. He watched as Mr. Sanders looked frantically between Logan and Roman, as if trying to guess which of Patton’s older brothers was nicknamed Virgey. “How, uh...how old is he, Patty?”

“I believe he said he was fifteen,” Logan spoke instead. Virgil watched as Mr. Sanders’s eyes widened, leaning forward as he stared at Logan. “You have a fifteen-year-old brother.” He stated. Logan nodded. “You don’t know him, but he stays here a lot.” Mr. Sanders stared, letting out a small, almost delirious laugh, shaking his head a bit.

“So he saw you two arguing? What’s he gonna do?” He spoke up after a moment, apparently deciding to just go along with it.

Roman groaned. “He’ll probably tell us not to fight and get along or something annoying like that.”

“Do you not recall when I told him someone hit me at school and he told me to kill them?” Logan pointed out.

“Well yeah, he had a point!”

“He gave me a detailed explanation on how to murder them! Along with all the gross details!” Virgil watched as their father’s face grew more and more horrified as they argued, holding back the laughter at the poor man’s confusion. Mr. Sanders silently stood up, taking everyone’s plates and heading into the kitchen to wash them. Curious, Virgil followed, slipping into the shadows next to the fridge to watch him.

He was staring blankly down into the sink, unmoving. He took a deep breath, blinking out of his daze and shaking his head. He chuckled to himself. “They just made an imaginary friend, that’s all.” He said, as if trying to convince himself. “Kids always have imaginary friends at this age. This is normal. They just happened to make a...collective imaginary brother. Who’s five years older than Roman.” He paused. “This is normal!” He chuckled to himself, slowly getting to washing the plates and cleaning up. If Virgil hadn’t found this whole situation so hilarious he would’ve felt bad for the guy.

Virgil headed back to the dinner table, seeing that Roman and Logan had ended their light argument with a small huff and Roman sticking his tongue out at him. He looked around the room, eyes passing over Virgil’s hiding spot before doing a quick double-take.

“I was right though, right, Doom and Gloom?”

“Right about what?”

“About the horses!” He shouted, as if offended that Virgil may have forgotten.

“Oh. Yeah, they’re more than just  _ noble steeds _ knights ride into battle with.” Logan grinned. “See? I was right.”

“Yeah, in some cultures they eat them.” Patton blinked, before tears started forming in his eyes. “Not the horsies…” he whimpered.

“Oh shit—Pat, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay!” Virgil crouched in front of the toddler, frantically trying to comfort him. He then heard Mr. Sanders’s footsteps coming back. He glanced at the doorway nervously, before pulling Patton closer for a quick hug, rubbing a circle into his back. He pulled away, slipping into the shadows as their father came in.

“Pat? Hey, what’s wrong, bud?”

“Virgil told him that some people eat horses and he started crying.” Logan stated, watching as Mr. Sanders came over and picked up Patton. He gave Logan a confused look, before taking a deep breath and holding Patton closer.

“Well, uh...that’s not a very nice thing to tell a five year old who loves horses…” he spoke softly, looking down at Logan.

“Tell Virgil that it wasn’t nice then. I didn’t say anything bad!” Mr. Sanders blinked, looking around awkwardly.

“Uh, yeah, of course. My bad.” He looked around for a moment longer, before choosing a place near the kitchen to be where Virgil was standing. Virgil watched as the man turned his back to him and began berating him.

“Now listen here, young man,” he began with the confidence of someone who just tripped onto the stage during a performance, “it’s not nice to tell someone Patton’s age about these kinds of things. Especially—“

“Dad, you’re looking the wrong way. Virgil’s over there!” Roman pointed at Virgil, much to his father’s very well hidden annoyance. Patton let out a small giggle. Mr. Sanders took it as an excuse to get out of this situation.

“There. Feeling better, Patty-Cake?” Patton nodded, burrowing his head closer into his dad’s chest. “That’s good.” He smiled down at Patton, before turning back to his kids.

“So, who wants to watch a movie before bed?” Roman’s eyes lit up. “Me! I do!” He raced into the living room, already intent on being the one to choose the movie. Virgil followed him in, coming out of the shadows with a grin. “Well, well, well, looks like I avoided punishment.”

Roman picked up a pillow from the couch and wacked him in the leg. “You won’t for long!” He wacked him again, giggling as he shouted, “Take that! Ha ha!”

Virgil held back a snicker, pretending to die and slowly falling on the couch. Just as Roman was about to climb onto him, Mr. Sanders walked through the door, and Virgil was gone into the shadows again.


	7. Piggy-back?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Roman demands piggy-back rides while Logan demands an experiment, it goes just as you'd expect it to go
> 
> (I'mma be honest, this was supposed to be a Logan-centric chapter, but then Roman was just like "ok but what if I do this")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if i get anything wrong about the piggy-backs, i haven't gotten one in over three thousand years *staring out a window in the rain intensifies*

Virgil hissed as the light shown into his eyes, spots dancing across his vision. “Sorry!” Logan spoke quickly, pointing the flashlight back down at the ground.

“Why did you ask me to do this again?”

“I just wanted to know if you could see through those eyes under your normal eyes.” He innocently pointed at the second set of eyes on Virgil’s cheeks, fiddling with the flashlight in his other hand.

“Wha—they’re eyes. Of course I can see through them.”

“So if you closed your first set of eyes could you walk around the house just fine?”

“Well, yeah.” Roman hummed, grabbing a random jacket off the ground and climbing on the bed next to where Virgil was standing. “Can we test it out?” Before Virgil could even object Roman had jumped up onto his back, struggling to hold on and wrap the fabric around his eyes at the same time. Virgil yelped, his arms automatically wrapping around Roman’s legs and clinging on like his life depended on it.

“Roman, what the hell? Get off!”

“Just a second!” He finished off the knot and laughed triumphantly. “Done!” With that Virgil let go of his legs, expecting Roman to just fall back onto the bed. Instead he shrieked right into his ear and wrapped his arms around Virgil’s neck, closing off his windpipe and beginning to choke him.

Virgil coughed, making the wise choice of wrapping his arms back around Roman’s legs and sitting down on the bed. “Fucking hell Roman.” He choked out. The ten-year old quickly released his grip, letting out an awkward, embarrassed laugh.

“I was hoping for a piggy-back ride, but okay.” Virgil blinked, turning to Logan, who had been staring unblinking through the whole fiasco.

“Logan, what’s a piggy-back ride?” He whispered as quietly as possible, hoping Roman didn’t hear him despite him being less than a foot away.

“It’s, uh...basically what you were doing. So how well can you see with only two eyes?”

“So piggy-back rides are just putting someone into a chokehold?” Virgil turned to Roman. “Are you back to wanting to kill me?”

“Well it’s more gentle than a chokehold! Now about your eyes—”

“So it’s choking someone without any real intention behind it?”

“Oh my gosh, it’s not like that!” Roman exclaimed with a huff. “Here, let’s try again!” Virgil visibly tensed up at that. Roman ignored it and just wrapped his arms around his throat, significantly gentler than before. “Actually keep your arms around my legs this time, then stand up.”

After a few moments of hesitation, Virgil did so, relieved to not end up choking to death a second time. Roman cheered, letting his chin drop on top of Virgil’s head. “Woah, it’s so much higher than when Dad gives us rides!” Roman poked the ceiling as if to prove a point.

“Well, yeah. Virgil’s taller than humans. Unless there’s an eight-foot tall human somewhere in the world.” Logan adjusted his glasses in thought, before racing out the door, probably to ask his dad exactly that.

“Well, now that Logan’s gone, onward noble steed!” Roman pointed over Virgil’s shoulder to the door.

“What?”

“Didn’t he want to see if you could walk around the house with only two eyes?”

“Oh yeah. Huh.”

“Yeah, and since he left, I’ll know something that he won’t for once!” Roman excitedly bounced as best he could in Virgil’s tight grip. Virgil looked over his shoulder at him for a moment, before smirking and walking across the room.

He then dumped Roman off onto his bed, lying down next to where the kid had fallen. Roman groaned in annoyance, crossing his arms as he sat up to pout at Virgil.

“What?” Virgil asked, trying to hide his grin.

“You were supposed to walk out the door and around the house!” He whined.

“Oh. I was?” Roman huffed, turning his back to Virgil and tilting his chin up indignantly. Virgil smirked, sitting up and saying, “Sorry, I just couldn’t help messin’ with you.”

“You owe me another piggy-back ride!”

“Okay, okay.” Just as Roman was about to climb onto his back again, the door swung open. Out of instinct Virgil quickly slipped back into the shadows, leaving Roman swinging his arms through the air as he struggled to keep himself on the bed.

“Roro! Dad’s takin’ us to the park today! Hurry an’ get ready! Hurry, hurry!” Patton chirped, racing around the room to find his socks and shoes. Logan and Mr. Sanders followed into the room soon after, Mr. Sanders seeming to be in the middle of explaining something about what causes rainbows to form. How the two had gotten from discussing tall people to rainbows was a complete mystery.

Patton looked around the room as Mr. Sanders began trying his best to get Patton’s shoes on in his hyperactive state. The toddler’s apparent searching only began growing more frantic as he turned completely away from his father and began searching under the bed.

“Dad, where’s my kitty jacket?” He asked quickly, crawling completely under the bed in search of it. Virgil bit back a curse, realizing he still had whatever jacket Roman had grabbed wrapped around his eyes. He came out of the shadows in the kitchen, far enough away from them for Mr. Sanders not to see him, pulling off the jacket quickly.

“Goddamnit.” He muttered to himself. He sighed heavily, returning back to the shadows of their bedroom. Roman seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and was awkwardly rocking back and forth from the balls of his feet, to his heels and back. He was scanning the shadows intensely, his eyes finally finding Virgil’s. He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Virgil glanced back at Mr. Sanders, who had started helping Patton look for it. The moment his back turned, Virgil chucked the jacket across the room at Roman. Roman, having never been good at sports, flailed his arms in an attempt to catch it. It smacked him in the face and fell to the ground.

Roman let out a disappointed huff, before picking it up and saying, “I got it!” Logan looked back and forth between the two, before shaking his head, ashamed by their actions. Patton simply popped up from under his bed, squealed happily and hugged Roman, holding his jacket as if it were a teddy bear. Virgil glanced over at Mr. Sanders, breathing a sigh of relief.  _ Good. He didn’t suspect a thing. _

Meanwhile Thomas was silently untying Patton’s shoes behind the bed, eyes wide and unblinking as he absent-mindedly messed with the laces. He didn’t just see a shadowy figure fade into the corner of the room. Nope. Not at all. His mind was just playing tricks on him. He exhaled, standing up too quickly to be considered calm. “Alright! Let’s get your shoes on and head to the park, okay bud?”

“Okay!” As he helped Patton with his shoes, he glanced back over to that corner. Nothing there.  _ Yup, my mind’s just playing tricks on me. That’s all this is. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like i need a patton-centric chapter at some point. i mean jeez roman stop stealing the spotlight


	8. Thomas is Just a Dad Trying His Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and Patton get into a tickle fight, and Thomas is confused as to why his son is laughing "alone" in his room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this tomorrow, but here I am posting it. I mean 10:30 at night is basically the same as tomorrow, right?

Patton was bored. He always got bored waiting for Logan and Roman to get home from school. Elementary kids always got out later than kindergarteners. Dad was busy working on a script for a video, and Patton didn’t want to bother him. Which left him alone with Virgil.

The teen was lying down on the ground, legs propped up on top of Roman’s bed, his eyes closed as if he were asleep. Patton walked as quietly as possible towards him. Virgil still heard him, but kept his eyes closed anyway, listening as the child got closer and closer.

Patton, seeming to determine Virgil was asleep, stuck out a small finger and bopped his nose. “Boop!” Virgil’s eyes shot open, slightly startled by the sudden contact. Patton giggled innocently, causing Virgil to smile, holding up a clawed finger and bopping Patton’s nose back.

“Boop.” Patton bopped Virgil’s nose again. “Boop!” Virgil did the same back, sitting up and crossing his legs. Patton then poked his side with another “Boop,” sending a weird sensation through his torso, a snort escaping his lips. Virgil poked Patton’s side, sending the kid into a fit of giggles.

Virgil was completely confused as to what was going on, but he was thoroughly okay with that. He continued to lightly prod at Patton’s side, causing him to curl up, his giggling growing louder as he tried to swat Virgil’s hand away. Virgil smirked, poking at Patton’s other side as the kid continued to squirm and laugh on the ground.

“Virgil, nooo!” Patton squealed. Virgil continued to poke at his sides and armpits, his laughter growing louder and more hysterical by the second.

The laughter of one of your children is the most precious thing any parent can hear. Thomas smiled as he heard Patton’s laughter down the hall. He read through the rest of his script, making sure it was free of typos, before saving and closing the document, deciding to finish the rest while Joan was present. He sat there silently, listening as Patton continued to snort and giggle.

Wait a minute. What was he laughing at? Roman and Logan were still at school, and the TV wasn’t on, so he couldn’t be watching any cartoons. All Thomas could think of him doing was either drawing or playing with his toys, and he never laughed that much doing those!

Thomas stood up, curiosity dragging him down the hall to his kids’ room. He opened the door, peeking inside. Patton was lying on the ground behind Roman’s bed, most of his body hidden. As Thomas opened the door, he could swear he saw a head of hair ducking down to hide.

“What’s so funny, bud?” Patton snorted, pointing at where Thomas had seen the head duck down. “Virgil was tickling me!” There was that name again: Virgil. Thomas had already been questioning whether he was real or not, and by now he was pretty convinced that there was indeed some kind of fifteen year old living in his house.

And he couldn’t help but feel sad about that. Even though that teenager probably broke into his house in the middle of the night and has probably been staying in his attic and stealing their food like some kind of racoon for who-knows how long. It just meant this Virgil kid either ran away, or was kicked out of their house.

Thomas walked over around the bed, seeing the spot in front of Patton empty, as he had expected. He got on his hands and knees, peeking under Roman’s bed, then Logan’s next to it. Nothing there. Yet another mysterious disappearance from this teenager. He just didn’t understand how. Thomas sighed, standing back up.

“Well, good to know you’re having fun with him.” He glanced at the clock, seeing it was almost 2:30. “We should go pick up your brothers. Wanna try getting your shoes on yourself?” Patton chirped out a yes, hopping up off the ground and skipping over to his bed.

Thomas looked around the room, scanning the shadows. He stared at the corner he had seen that shadowy figure in. Was it just him, or were the shadows much darker than they would naturally be?

Within the shadows, Virgil’s heart pounded out of his chest. He screwed his eyes shut, hoping to whatever god was up there that the lack of eye contact would make Mr. Sanders stop staring.

Finally, Patton shouted a proud “Got it!” Virgil opened his eyes in time to see Patton kick his feet up into the air, happy to have tied them both without help. Mr. Sanders finally looked away, smiling at Patton and congratulating him. After a few more minutes, the two had left.

Let it be known, Thomas would never trust a stranger to watch over his children while he was gone. However, as a few more days passed, Virgil became more and more interesting to him.

Patton, Roman, and Logan all referred to him as their big brother, so they clearly trusted him. And, after finding all of his kids in tears when he came home one day finding out that their babysitter, his own niece, had screamed at them, let’s just say he no longer had a babysitter. Or a niece, as she had apparently run out of the house screaming and babbling nonsense before telling him that she’s never stepping into his house again.

Not to mention, Virgil was only two years younger than their ex-babysitter, at least according to what his kids said. Sure, he had never really seen or heard Virgil before, but at this point Thomas was willing to believe he existed.

Which was why that Saturday, he gathered his kids together as he got ready to leave. “You’re just gonna leave us alone for the day?” Roman asked, confusion written across his face.

“You won’t be alone. Virgil’s gonna be your babysitter.”

“What?” They all shouted. Thomas simply nodded, handing his old phone to Roman. “If he has any trouble, he can call me.”

“But, Dad, why are you—” Logan started, but Thomas simply held up a hand, clearing his throat and shouting through the house. “You hear that, Virgil? You’re in charge! I’ll be back in about six hours! Three o’clock! Be good and take good care of them.”

Doing this made Thomas feel insane, but somehow he knew that not just his three kids were listening. He kissed the three on the head, before smiling and saying, “Be good to your new babysitter, okay?” With that, he turned around and walked out the door, closing and locking it behind him.

And that’s when Virgil emerged from the shadows, body trembling with fear and anxiety. “Oh god, he’s gonna regret doing that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw I've been trying to figure out a way to add Deceit and Remus to this story, and I think I figured it out. It won't be happening anytime soon, and it's not gonna be a part of the main story. It's either gonna happen near the very end or after this is finished as like a one-shot continuation. but yeee that chapters gonna be chaos


	9. Virgil the Babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil watches over the kids, Roman makes a pillow fort, and Thomas finally meets Virgil  
> (TW for body horror near the end of the chapter btw)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> funfact: this is one of the parts of the story that I've had in mind since the very beginning. That's probably also why this chapter's so long

The first fifteen minutes of his time as babysitter was spent pacing around every corner of the house, mumbling incoherently as he tried to figure out what to do, the three kids following behind him like ducklings. “I mean, what does he expect me to do? I don’t know how to babysit!”

“You babysat us last time though. Y’know, when Abigail made us cry and you scared her into running out of the house?” Logan spoke.

“Well, yeah, but that was only for an hour. Then your dad came back and everything was fine!”

“I still don’t get what the problem is!” Roman exclaimed. “We don’t need a babysitter! We’re big kids. Or at least  _ I _ am. I don’t know about that heathen right there.” He pointed to Logan, who fumed with rage.

“I don’t think you’re using that word right, Princey.”

“He’s not! At least not in the way it’s typically used.” Logan spat out, huffing as he fixed Roman with a glare.

“We get it, you know stuff, smarty-pants!” And just like that, the two had begun fighting. Virgil looked back and forth between the two as their yelling match grew into a screeching match.

“On your feet, knave!”

“I am on my feet! I’ve been standing this whole time! And I am not a knave! A knave is a dishonest person! I’ve never told a lie to you in my life!”

“Oh hush now and fight me like a man!” Virgil sighed and grabbed Roman under his armpits, hoisting him into the air and slinging him over his shoulder.

“Alright, that’s enough of that.”

“You will rue the day you crossed paths with me!”

“How about we just watch a Disney movie or something?” That caught Roman’s attention. With a gasp, he turned to look at the back of Virgil’s head. “Can I pick it?”

“Nope, Patton’s picking.” The child in question hummed, having zoned out five minutes ago. “He wasn’t arguing, so he gets to pick.” Roman groaned. Patton seemed to realize what was going on and clapped happily, running over to the TV singing Winnie the Pooh.

Logan sat down on one side of the couch while Virgil set a clearly disgruntled Roman down on the other, before helping Patton out with the movie. As the movie started, Virgil heard a  _ ding _ come from the phone still clutched in Roman’s hand. Roman looked at the text, before humming and passing it to Virgil nonchalantly.

_ “Virgil, if you’re actually real, please respond. I’m starting to realize how dumb this was.” _ Mr. Sanders texted. Virgil let out a deep breath, shaking his head slightly as he texted back.

_ “Yeah, you really fucked up. None of them are dead, at least not yet. Why the hell did you leave me in charge? The fuck’s wrong with you?” _ It took him a while to respond—maybe the cursing threw him off.

_ “Okay, yeah, you’re definitely not one of my kids pretending to be you.” _

“No shit, Sherlock.” Virgil mumbled. Patton gave Virgil a confused look before dropping his head back into his lap, whispering almost to himself “No phones at the movie theater.”

_ “So, mind if I get to know you a little? My kids think you’re pretty nice, but I want to make sure for myself.” _

_ “Don’t you have work to do?” _ There was a moment of hesitation.

_ “Fair point. How about this, you watch over my kids until three, then I’ll come home and ask you some questions, let you stay for dinner, and all that. How does that sound?” _

Virgil was hesitant about taking up the offer. While he did really want to meet Mr. Sanders properly, how would he react to his children spending their time with a being capable of stealing their souls in a heartbeat? Virgil then suddenly remembered a time oh so many months ago now, when Mr. Sanders smacked him over the head with a tripod. His head stung with the memory.

He put the phone down for a moment, mulling over his options as he stared blankly at the TV, the movie playing in the background of his mind. Before he knew it, an hour had passed, the credits were rolling and he had yet to respond.

_ Well, too late to respond now. _ He mentally smacked himself. Patton looked up at him. “Can we watch another?”

“Yeah, why not?” He passed the remote to Logan, who quickly went ahead and chose  _ Big Hero 6. _ Roman suddenly perked up, seeming to get an idea and running off down the hall. Curious, Virgil stood up and followed, melting into the shadows and appearing in their bedroom.

Roman had begun gathering up his bedsheets, pillows, and stuffed animals, struggling to hold them all in his arms. “What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna make a pillow fort!”

“A...pillow fort?” Roman shoved his blankets and pillows into Virgil’s arms, moving on to Logan’s bed. “Since Dad’s gonna be gone for a while, I’m gonna see just how extravagant I can make one!”

“Cool, uh...so what is a pillow fort?” Roman froze in his tracks. Virgil was just about to try and take back his question, when Roman slowly turned to face him with the most offended expression he had ever seen on a ten year-old’s face.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Did you forget that I’m the actual bogeyman, made to, you know, basically destroy all happiness and stuff?”

“Well no, it’s kinda hard to forget that. But seriously?” Roman turned back to Logan’s bed, thinking for a moment, before giving a determined nod and tugging his blanket off.

“I require more blankets!” He jumped from Logan’s bed to Patton’s, tossing the blanket to Virgil as he began pulling off Patton’s. Virgil snatched it out of the air, staring on in confusion. He shook his head. “When we’re done with this, you’re cleaning it up by yourself.”

“Fine by me!” He hopped off Patton’s bed, running down the hall to Mr. Sanders’s room, nearly tripping on the blanket in his arms as he did so. This caused Virgil to tense up.

He had never once seen or heard Mr. Sanders yell or even really get mad at his kids. It was one of the main things that had caused Virgil to stick around so often before they started getting to know him. But now he was their babysitter, which meant he was responsible for whatever they did. Meaning that Roman trashing their house was in a way his fault.

“Oh fuck,” he muttered to himself, moving through the shadows to stand in front of Roman, causing the kid to bump into him and nearly fall over. “Whatever all this is for, I really don’t think you need to demolish your dad’s room to do it.” Roman huffed, before tilting his nose up and saying a slightly-annoyed “Fine” as he turned and marched out the door.

Virgil followed close behind Roman, watching as he walked diligently down the hall. He then opened up the closet and pulled out a pillow and three more blankets, laughing triumphantly as he raced away back to the living room, the sound of him tripping over one loud and clear.

Virgil rolled his eyes with a smirk, closing the closet door and walking over to the unmoving blanket-covered lump in the middle of the hallway. He poked at the child-sized lump with his foot, the pillow emerging and smacking at his leg. Roman leapt to his feet and grabbed up all the blankets before continuing to the living room at a significantly slower pace. He and Virgil dumped all the soft materials onto the couch and, with a cheer and a few instructions, Virgil watched as the three children got to work.

After roughly an hour of work and ignoring their movie, the pillow fort had been completed, spanning across the two couches, multiple chairs, and the highest part being supported by duct tape over the top of the TV. Virgil simply stared at their work. He remembered seeing pillow forts in children’s rooms before (not knowing what they were called back then), but it was new to see one from start to finish.

After a few more minutes, the four had gotten comfortable in the fort, Patton and Logan having brought in their own stuffed animals and Virgil bringing in the lunch that Mr. Sanders had left on the kitchen counter for them.

They put on a new movie, finished eating, then sat together in silence, simply enjoying the movie, Patton sitting between Virgil’s legs while Logan and Roman leaned on either side of him.

It was...nice. The most relaxed Virgil had ever been, in fact. Roman and Logan had shifted into more-so lying down positions, and, after putting on a final movie, Virgil had soon done the same, Patton latching onto his arm as he began to fall asleep.

Speaking of which, it had been a while since he had gotten a good amount of sleep. Virgil’s eyes slowly drifted closed, the warmth of the kids next to him and the softness of the blankets under and around him making the tension leave his body.  _ I guess a bit of sleep wouldn’t hurt. _

  
  


Thomas got out of his car, checking his phone one last time as he walked up to his front door. Still nothing from Virgil. He had been hoping for him to respond, not wanting the kid to feel forced to stay if he didn’t want to. Thomas sighed, looking through his keys and fitting them into the lock, trying and failing three times before getting the right one and opening the door.

The sound of a movie— _ Beauty and the Beast _ , he assumed—was playing from the living room. As one of the songs began, he expected Roman to begin singing along, but there was nothing. Thomas bit his lip, locking the front door quickly and making his way to the living room.

The giant pillow fort didn’t surprise him one bit—honestly it probably would have made him even more concerned if there  _ hadn’t _ been a pillow fort. He listened closely from outside, able to just barely hear their soft breathing, small snoring sounds coming from Logan. He smiled, peeking in.

Roman was there at the entrance, drooling onto the dark fabric of a jacket. Patton was on the other side of the black and purple jacket, clutching onto the person’s arm like a teddy bear. Thomas got a good look at the person between them, his smile slowly fading as he looked closer.

Their body was unnaturally long and skinny, as if it had been stretched. Even under all the black and dark purple their bones and rib cage seemed to jut out in an unsettling and almost creepy way from under their shirt. A gray hand with claws sharp enough to tear through skin rested on their sunken-in stomach. Then Thomas got to their face, and realization dawned on him.

They had dark grey skin with pointed, elf-like ears, with four closed eyes on their face and—by the strange line on their neck—one slightly larger eye there as well. To make them even more unsettling, they had a mouth that seemed to stretch all the way across their cheeks, in a way that if they were to open it completely, it would look as if their face just split in two. Thomas shuddered at the mental image.

Virgil was the bogeyman. He probably should have realized it sooner, but the idea of the bogeyman befriending his children was just too ridiculous for him to have even thought of. His gaze drifted back to his kids.

Oh god, what if he had taken their souls and they were just soulless husks now, still alive but not responsive to anything? Without really thinking, he shook Roman awake, panic growing in his chest when he didn’t wake up immediately.

Then a whine came from Roman’s throat as he began weakly swatting at his hands. “Go away…evil dragon witch.” He mumbled out, clearly still asleep. Thomas breathed a sigh of relief. He watched as Roman curled up tighter into himself and continued to snooze, his nose nuzzled up to Virgil’s arm.

Thomas scanned over Virgil and his kids again. They all seemed so relaxed, it confused him more than anything. Virgil was downright terrifying to Thomas, and he was the adult here!

He watched as Patton snuggled even closer to Virgil, the bogeyman responding by running a clawed hand through his hair. A clawed hand that could very likely accidentally slit a throat. It dawned on Thomas that if this creature really wanted to hurt one of his kids, then they would be dead a hundred times over by now.

Thomas took a deep breath, sitting outside of the pillow fort. He pulled out his phone, deciding to search through the news. But no matter how much he searched, he couldn’t find a single report of a soul being stolen since the last bogeyman’s death and reincarnation as the being he had in front of him. The closest he got were a couple reported sightings, all ending with the bogeyman disappearing into the shadows quickly after.

He looked back up at Virgil, seeing just how calm his expression was as he continued to sleep. The fact that he had never taken a soul didn’t take away much of the terror that gripped his heart as he looked at him, but...this by far wasn’t the worst thing that could be happening, he supposed.

Thomas carefully reached into the fort, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV. He took one last look at his kids, then at Virgil, then stood up and headed to his bedroom.

This was the Virgil that his kids saw as a big brother. And they had said he was fifteen, which made sense, considering the previous bogeyman had died fifteen years ago. It made him wonder if bogeymen emerged as children and start stealing souls that young. If so, it seemed that Virgil really had been some kind of anomaly.

While there was still fear in the back of his mind that this may be some sort of elaborate trick the bogeyman had come up with, he decided not to dwindle on that, instead pulling out his laptop and trying to focus on something more light-hearted as he waited for the four to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://kaysigns.tumblr.com/post/614672782035435520/heres-a-drawing-of-virgil-from-hidden-in-shadows  
> here's a drawing of Virgil, even if it's not as accurate as I'd want it to be. I'll redraw it eventually (when I'm not swamped with multiple creative projects and schoolwork at the same time oof)


	10. Kitchen Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil wakes up and musters up the courage to talk to Mr. Sanders. It's just as awkward as you'd expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops totally didn't forget I had fan fiction to write for like a whole week straight

Virgil slowly awoke, his eyes flickering open a few times before looking around his surroundings. He was still in the pillow fort, and by the three small bodies around him, the kids were still there as well, likely still asleep. He looked over at Roman, his nose scrunching a bit as he saw the dark circle of drool on his jacket, very slowly and gently shifting Roman’s head off his arm. Note to self: Roman drools in his sleep. Fun.

Virgil looked over at the TV, surprised to see it had been turned off. He didn’t remember doing that.

That’s when he began to pick up on the noise in the kitchen, the sound of a man humming to himself, feet going across the tile, and the occasional clatter of pots or pans.

His throat constricted immediately, the hand that had been absent-mindedly running through Patton’s hair beginning to tremble.

Mr. Sanders was here. He was here and he had seen and he must be scared, right? Or maybe he hadn’t seen. Maybe he was still somehow completely oblivious to Virgil’s presence. 

No, that couldn’t be it. He would have checked on his kids, which meant he had seen Virgil’s face, then realized he was the bogeyman, and is therefore scared.

But then why is he humming?

The only explanation Virgil could come to was that Mr. Sanders had called the police, or the FBI, or some kind of man in black, or whatever kind of government agency was in charge of killing bogeymen. Did the government even have an agency like that? Virgil didn’t want to know. All he knew was that Mr. Sanders was calm enough to be humming, which meant he had found a way to deal with the problem. The problem being Virgil existing around his kids.

The problem himself swallowed down a lump in his throat. His whole body was trembling at this point, and he slowly detached his hand from Patton’s head, beginning to worry that his gentle strokes would quickly turn into straight up clawing. He listened closely as Mr. Sanders continued to hum.

His humming had always been one of the most soothing sounds he had ever heard. He would always listen if Mr. Sanders began humming one of his kids to sleep, every once in a while almost falling asleep right then and there in the shadows listening to it.

But now that sound terrified him to no end. Mr. Sanders being calm enough to hum, when he knew that a dangerous monster was in the other room with his kids; in Virgil’s mind at least, it meant the father had a plan to get rid of him. Virgil thought over his options, realizing he didn’t really have any except to flee if the father really had called for help, and no other options came up for if he hadn’t.

But then that small, hopeful part of his mind—the part he had had locked away up until the kids had begun calling him their big brother—spoke up, and made a new idea. He hated it with every fiber of his being, and it scared him even more than this whole situation, but...it was better than running.

He was gonna talk to Mr. Sanders. As he carefully tried to slither out of the three kids’ grips, his mind and body screamed that this was a horrible idea. Would he even listen to him? Sure, he had seen Virgil already, and he was aware that he was there, but that was while Virgil was asleep, and defenseless, and vulnerable.

Having a nine foot tall horrific soul-stealing monster appear in the shadows behind you would definitely be a bad introduction. And that’s exactly what Virgil did.

Mr. Sanders continued to hum as he poured a pot full of noodles into a strainer, the boiling hot water filtering through. He didn’t notice Virgil still standing behind him, awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other as his mind screamed  _ There’s still time to back out of this! Move your ass out of here! _

The father poured the noodles back into the pot, turning around to grab the sauce off the burner. He stared at Virgil’s jacket for a moment, before allowing his gaze to trail up and meet Virgil’s eyes.

His eyes were blank for a surprisingly long time, his brain seeming to be processing what was going on at .5 speed. Virgil just stood there, staring back at him. It was only when he glanced away for a millisecond that Mr. Sanders reacted. His eyes shot wide and he scrambled back, tripping on nothing and falling on his butt, never looking away from Virgil as he began to hyperventilate.

“Uh...” Virgil glanced around the kitchen frantically, unsure of what to do or say. “Good to meet you too.” Never has he wanted to punch himself more than in this moment.

Mr. Sanders blinked up at him, his gaze not seeming to decide what set of eyes he was meant to look at, before deciding to simply focus on Virgil’s claws. Virgil quickly shoved his hands into his pockets.

“S-So...you’re Virgil, huh?” Mr. Sanders stuttered out, his voice trembling slightly with fear. Virgil tried his best to ignore it.

“Yeah...hey.” The father answered back with a breathless “hey” as he forced himself to his feet, watching Virgil for a moment longer, before forcing his eyes away to finish off the pasta.

“Sorry, I was just...surprised, is all.”

“It’s fine.”

“I mean...it’s not really every day you see a, well...a bogeyman just...standing there...behind you...”

“I already said it’s fine, I get it, you don’t have to elaborate.” Mr. Sanders flinched at the annoyed tone. Virgil bit back a curse, sliding down to the ground, sitting with his knees up to his chest as he watched the father go back to his business.

Mr. Sanders glanced back at him every few seconds as he mixed the sauce into the pasta. His fear shone through every glance. Virgil tried to make himself as least intimidating as possible, curling his arms around his legs and hugging them to his chest, dropping his chin onto his knee and hiding the bottom half of his face behind his arms. He couldn’t help but continue to watch Mr. Sanders, though.

Clearly, his whole “talking” plan was going along great.

“The garlic bread’ll be done soon.” Mr. Sanders peeped out awkwardly.

“...Cool.” The father nodded in some sort of affirmation, and that was our conversation. Virgil tapped his claws against the tile, the quiet clicking sound calming him somewhat. It only seemed to make Mr. Sanders even more nervous, so he quickly stopped, biting at his lip instead.

He watched as the father glanced back at him again, opening and closing his mouth a couple times, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to phrase it. Finally he spoke.

“My kids seem to like you.” Virgil hummed. “I guess so.”

“How’d you meet them?”

“How do you think?”

“Oh, uh…” Mr. Sanders stumbled over his words, clearing his throat. “Well, uh...I mean I just figured that you had...tried to take one of their souls and they saw you before you could.” He then muttered, “And maybe they managed to put some sort of spell on you to make you docile.” 

Virgil bit down harder on his lip at that, tasting his blood as it began slowly seeping out. He wanted to defend himself, to tell him that that wasn’t what happened. But it wasn’t like the father would believe him. Even if he did, it would probably freak him out knowing that Virgil had been watching him long before anyone had seen him.

“I won’t ever try to hurt them.” He spoke quietly, pulling his jacket tighter around himself. “I promise.”

Mr. Sanders looked back over to him, before shrugging and turning away again. “I believe that.” The oven’s timer went off, and he began pulling out the pan of garlic bread, setting it on a cutting board and taking out a knife. He seemed somewhat calmer, in a way.

“You...actually believe me with that?” Mr. Sanders nodded. “I’ve known you were here for three hours, I’ve had some time to think.” He began plating up the food onto four separate plates, continuing to speak.

“Roman has some trust issues. Logan too, but not as extreme. Roman was forced into the foster system because of something his parents did, and that thing they did—I won’t go into it—but it broke Roman, in a way. It took him forever to even give me a chance. He does have a pretty good radar for who’s good or bad now, though, so...I trust his judgement of you. Well, kinda.”

Mr. Sanders paused for a moment, before taking out an extra plate, looking over to Virgil. “You wanna stay for dinner? I’m gonna be honest and say that I don’t really trust you being around my kids without me around, except when you’re asleep, at least. But...I do wanna get to know you, and form my own opinions.”

When Virgil didn’t respond immediately, too surprised to do anything but blink, the father looked him over a bit, before furrowing his brow and asking, “Wait, are you able to eat things? Other than souls, I mean?” Virgil stared at him for a moment, before smirking and standing up from the ground.

“I can, yeah. And...dinner would be nice, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if I like how this chapter came out or not, usually I'm really proud of my longer chapters, but this one's just more like "eh it's alright"  
> Gotta be honest, I'm worried about the next chapter. I don't like writing scenes with food in them, I don't know why but I do, so that chapter's gonna be interesting (even writing the garlic bread and pasta into this scene was awkward enough for me istg)


	11. Virgil's Not Throwing Away His Shot (I'm sorry I couldn't help it)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and the Sanders family sit down for a pleasant dinner where they talk about cartoons. Thomas is surprised to see that a bogeyman is indeed capable of enjoying cartoons, and is a bit pleased with this new information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to the couple of people who recently commented on this fic, they made me go uwu and grabbed me by my eyeballs and pulled me out of my motivation slump so now here i am again and if you read anything i write with an overly dignified voice it becomes really funny i've discovered anyway here's the chapter jolly good

Even Patton was able to feel just how stifling the awkwardness in the room was. This was the quietest dinner to ever take place in the Sanders’ household, and he and Roman were not here for it.

Virgil stared down at his place, his heart hammering out of his chest. Thomas was doing the same, with his heart pounding even faster. They had a small bonding moment, sure, but that didn’t take away from the fact that Virgil was a being created to be one of the most terrifying creatures on the planet. No matter how nice he is, that primal fear doesn’t just pack its bags and leave after one decent conversation. So admittedly, Thomas was still terrified.

Patton looked between his father and oldest brother, a plan forming in his small five year old head. He turned to Virgil and began talking non-stop about Steven Universe. It wasn’t Virgil’s favorite out of the two shows they had been able to actually watch together, but it was the easier one for Patton to talk about, and Virgil still really loved the show, so it didn’t really matter.

Virgil seemed to thank whatever god was up there as he listened to Patton’s babbling. He listened as Patton talked about how colorful everything was, how much he liked Steven, and how excited he was to see how happy they would be in Steven Universe Future. Thomas didn’t have the heart to tell him that it hadn’t been happy at all. Or that he had watched it without him to mentally prepare so that he wouldn’t be crying along with his son.

Roman quickly joined in, his words somehow even more enthusiastic than Patton’s. It wasn’t long until they had diffused the awkwardness, everyone too caught up in their love of cartoons to really remember the tension.

Then the topic switched to Gravity Falls, and that was where Virgil and Logan truly shined. Logan talked about a theory he had thought up and Virgil went on to point out certain details that would support it, biting back a grin at the gleam Logan had in his eyes.

Virgil glanced at Mr. Sanders, the father seeming surprised at the two’s shared enthusiasm. Mr. Sanders noticed him looking and quickly looked back down at his plate. Virgil assumed he was just imagining the hint of a smile on his face.

When dinner was over, Roman, Patton, and Logan ran off to their room, Roman having challenged Logan to a game of chess. Virgil wanted to join them, just to see the look on Roman’s face when he loses, but hangs back, remembering what Mr. Sanders said. He wasn’t okay with Virgil being alone with his kids, and he was gonna respect that. Just in case he was still willing to call the police on him.

Virgil stayed in the corner as Mr. Sanders washed the dishes. The father would still glance back at him a lot, but it felt a little bit less frequent than before. He finished up washing a pot, before finally starting a conversation.

“You really are a teenager, huh?” Virgil blinked. “I...guess?”

“Just the way you talk with them is so...I don’t know. You really act like a big brother. I can see why they consider you that.” Virgil hummed, watching as Thomas began drying the dishes.

“It’s nice to see someone with the same kind of interests as Logan, too. Like, don’t get me wrong, I love Patton and Roman to death, but Logan’s so quiet compared to them. To see him get just as excited as the others...it was great to see. And if that’s how you usually interact, then I guess I’m fine with you staying.” He looked over to Virgil, looking him over again before gulping.

“It’ll just take me a minute to get used to you, so just...give me some time.” He added quietly. Virgil nodded silently, having expected much worse.

It still hurt, knowing that Mr. Sanders was still scared of him, but it felt incredible at the same time. He could stick around with Mr. Sanders’s permission. Did he still feel unwanted around Mr. Sanders? Yes. But he was giving him a chance. Now Virgil just hoped he wouldn’t fuck it up.

So, rules were established. For now, Virgil wasn’t allowed to be alone with the kids, he would sleep either on the living room couch or at his cave, and Mr. Sanders would try to have at least one pleasant conversation or period of “hang-out time” per day. It was awkward, that was for sure, but Virgil would take what he could get. If doing this meant Mr. Sanders wouldn’t be scared anymore, he was willing to give it a shot.


	12. New Babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids get a new babysitter who probably won't be babysitting again anytime soon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everything that's been going on in the world recently has been sapping away at my motivation, but I've been slowly getting that motivation back so that's pretty neat

It felt wrong for Virgil to be sitting out in the open like he was. As he sat with Mr. Sanders and the kids watching a new cartoon that had come out, his leg bounced up and down while he paid closer attention to Mr. Sanders than the actual show. He felt like Mr. Sanders was doing the same. Roman was sitting in Virgil’s lap, his whole body bouncing around during any of the action scenes, while Patton sat in his father’s lap and Logan sat on the ground.

Any time one of them tried to talk to him, he felt his heart leap into his throat. He hated talking around Mr. Sanders. He could almost feel the hidden fear whenever he spoke up. Virgil didn’t think his voice wasn’t the most terrifying thing about him, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant. It was raspy and gravelly, with a slight echo that sounded like two people talking at once. Definitely not the most comforting thing.

Mr. Sanders had found a new babysitter, one significantly better than their last, and had left for his office for the day. Virgil kept himself hidden, not willing to let any humans outside of the Sanders family see him.

So, it was just his luck that the one time he came out of the shadows that day to mess around with Patton, the babysitter entered the room, saw Virgil, and let out a blood-curdling scream. They then turned around, picked up Roman and Logan, who had been standing behind them, and ran out of the house with them both slung over their shoulders. Virgil shared a look with Patton, before melting into the shadows again to see what was going on.

The babysitter had slammed the front door shut, hyperventilating as they set Roman and Logan down on the patio. The two kids looked completely rattled and confused as the babysitter began dialing 911.

_ Well, that wouldn’t be good. _ Virgil thought to himself. He took a quick look around, before coming out in front of the babysitter. They squeaked, dropping their phone and backing up.

“S-Stay away!” They whimpered.

“Look, just calm down.” In response, the babysitter’s eyes rolled back in their head and they passed out. “Ah fuck.”

Patton had rushed to the window facing the patio, pushing it open and staring down at them.

“Did babysitter person die?” He asked fearfully.

“They didn’t, they just passed out.” Virgil groaned, hoisting the human to their feet. “Ro, open the door.” Roman quickly obliged, allowing Virgil to drag the babysitter inside onto the couch.

“Should I call Dad?” Logan asked, already looking through the babysitter’s phone. Virgil checked the clock. Mr. Sanders was probably already on his way home, there would be no point. They may as well just wait.

When Thomas came home, he did not expect to find the new babysitter just waking up and going on and on about how the bogeyman had attacked his child. “It had the poor lil guy in a choke hold, I’m telling you! It was holding him down and...” Their face drained of color, “...Oh god I still haven’t checked on him! He could be dead! And where did Roman and Logan go? Did you see them?”

“Hey, hey, calm down, okay? I’m sure they’re alright.” Thomas looked behind them to see that Logan was peeking around the corner. He held up a sign that clearly wasn’t written by him, saying “Please say they were dreaming,” then after seeing that Thomas had seen it, walked back to his bedroom. Not recognizing the handwriting, he could only assume it was Virgil who had written it. Okay, so this actually happened.

Did Virgil attack Patton though? He didn’t want to admit he believed it, but the babysitter seemed so genuinely terrified. Whether their terror was because they had seen Virgil or because they had actually seen Patton get attacked was another question though.

“I’ll make sure they’re okay and call you later, is that alright? Here, take your pay, and a bit extra.” Thomas handed over their money, including an extra twenty dollars. Eventually the babysitter left, leaving Thomas alone in the living room. He had to talk to Virgil.

Right as he thought that, a figure came out of the shadows, hands shoved into his pockets. Thomas’s throat tightened in fear. He cleared his throat to try and lessen the feeling before speaking.

“So...about what the babysitter said—”

“We were just messing around.” Virgil mumbled.

“What were you doing exactly?”

“Play-fighting. Wasn’t doing anything dangerous.” Thomas studied Virgil’s eyes as he spoke. The babysitter’s fear didn’t hold a candle to the amount in Virgil’s eyes as he stared at the ground. While he was clearly trying to appear stubborn and annoyed, his eyes looked so scared, and desperate, and apologetic for a wrong that he clearly didn’t do. His body was tense, as if he was bracing for Thomas to lash out at him.

“Alright. Just wanted to make sure. I believe you.” Thomas didn’t know how else to comfort Virgil, so he awkwardly patted his arm on the way to the kids’ bedroom to say a proper hello. He then paused for a moment, turning back around to look at the bogeyman. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“I, uh...” Virgil slowly lifted his gaze from the floor, the fear having been replaced with surprise and confusion. “...Sure.”

“Sounds good!” Thomas went to see his kids, glad to see that Patton was indeed still safe and happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to give the babysitter a name or any discernible gender because it wasn't really too important to the plot. Did consider making them one of the characters from Cartoon Therapy tho, so if you want you can imagine them as Elliot or Corbyn or someone else


	13. Baking With Thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas has a day off and his kids are at school, so why not spend some time baking with Virgil?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter just came out the way it did because we finally got a new oven after a whole year of not having one and I missed baking

_ Click, click, click. _ Virgil was lying on the ground of his cave, staring up at the small cube he held above his face. He had seen Logan fiddle with it while doing his homework all the time, saying that it helped him concentrate. Last night he had stayed at the Sanders’ house after the kids had fallen asleep, so he decided to borrow it and put it back where he found it before they woke up.

He turned the cube over in his hand, enjoying the small clicking the switch on one side made, before switching to the side with the buttons and enjoying the small, similar clicks they made. He didn’t know why it was so mesmerizing to him, but it was. And to think when he first saw Logan holding it he thought it was a bomb.

He glanced out his cave, cursing as he realized the sun had risen. He melted into the shadows, coming out at their house to find that everyone was already up and bustling around. 

Roman was screeching about how long Logan was taking in the bathroom while Logan screeched back about how it had only been five minutes, Patton had spilled cereal all over the floor, and Mr. Sanders looked dead inside as he somehow managed to pack their lunch boxes and clean up Patton’s mess at the same time. So, it was a normal Monday morning.

Virgil locked eyes with Mr. Sanders, who hesitated before nodding in the direction of the bathroom, silently asking Virgil to calm Roman down. Virgil obeyed, walking over to Roman and picking him up, carrying him over to the dining table and sitting him down. Roman whined in protest.

“Wait your turn, drama prince.” Roman grumbled nonsense in an almost mocking tone, grabbing the now half-empty box of cereal and pouring himself a bowl.

Half an hour later, the chaos was over, Mr. Sanders had driven the kids to school, and Virgil was left alone in the house. He stretched out on the couch, turning on the TV and fiddling with Logan’s cube a bit. Logan hadn’t noticed it was gone and he never took it to school, so Virgil guessed there would be no harm in it.

He had zoned out, not really hearing when the front door opened and closed, and not noticing when a shadow began looming over him. “Virgil?”

Virgil jumped, falling off the couch and turning around to glare and hiss at whoever dared to sneak up on him. Mr. Sanders had done almost the same, scrambling back into a wall, his heart pounding out of his chest. Virgil blinked out of his stupor, looking Mr. Sanders up and down, before slowly sitting back down on the couch.

Mr. Sanders cleared his throat, joining him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine.” The two turned their attention to the TV for a moment, both silently watching without really taking in what was playing.

“I don’t really have anything to do today. Joan forced me to take a break, so I kinda have to listen to them.” He thought for a moment, before turning to Virgil. “Is there anything you want to do?”

“You’re asking me for suggestions?”

“Yeah! Whenever I have a day off I usually ask my kids if they want to do anything first, and you’re the closest I’ve got to one of my kids right now.” Virgil blinked, unsure of whether he was happy that he was almost one of Mr. Sanders's kids, or upset that he wasn’t one.

“I don’t really have any ideas.” Mr. Sanders hummed, scrolling through his phone. As he came across a page he had bookmarked, his eyes brightened.

“Why don’t we make cookies? I found this three-ingredient recipe a while back and I wanted to see if it worked.”

“Yeah, alright.” Virgil had seen Mr. Sanders try to bake with Roman before. It usually ended in disaster, so he didn’t really have a good feeling about this. Nonetheless, he followed Mr. Sanders into the kitchen, his back hunched and his hands shoved into his pockets.

“We might as well double the recipe. Let’s see, ¾ times 2 is—”

“What do you mean times?”

“You know, like multiplication?”

“What’s a multiplication?” Mr. Sanders stared at him. Virgil grimaced and subconsciously curled tighter into himself, speaking through clenched teeth. “What?”

The father shook his head. “Sorry I just...forgot you wouldn’t have gone to school. Do you mind measuring out the peanut butter?”

Virgil huffed, doing as he was told. “I can read and write, that’s all I really need. It’s not like I can get a job or anything.” He mumbled to himself.

Thomas had understood before that Virgil was a fifteen year old. But he wasn’t sure if it had ever truly clicked that he was  _ a fifteen year old. _ He was still a child who never went to school. Honestly it was a miracle that he even knew how to read and write, that was stuff that a parent would teach you.

Virgil had to learn on his own, without anyone there to help him. Thomas couldn’t help but be reminded of all the times he needed his parents’ help during his childhood.

Soon, the batter was mixed, the cookies were on a tray, and they were placed in the oven. They began to clean up, Thomas washing the bowl and measuring cups while Virgil dried. Thomas couldn’t help but glance up at Virgil every so often. Never before had he looked at this nine foot tall creature and had the thought of  _ “that is a child that would still need a parental guardian if he were human” _ so prominent in his mind.

They waited out the last few minutes on the timer, Mr. Sanders and Virgil both sitting on the counter just a foot apart. Mr. Sanders had turned on a Youtube video and held it between the two of them in order for them both to watch. Virgil was admittedly surprised by that, but tried not to show it, instead focusing on the video.

Thomas admittedly felt bad for being unsettled by Virgil’s voice, as well as his laughter. Which was why Thomas had chosen one of the funniest videos he could think of in an attempt to get rid of that feeling. Was Virgil’s laugh truly unsettling? Yes, it very much was.

But Thomas could see that Virgil was enjoying the video, and that he was trying to cover up his small snickers and giggles as much as possible. And laughter showed that someone was happy, so what kind of good father to anyone would Thomas be if he was freaked out by the sound of a teenager’s joy?

The timer beeped, and Mr. Sanders took out the cookies, placing them on a cooling rack and waiting a bit for them to cool. Once they had cooled, he plucked one up and handed it to Virgil, grabbing another for himself. “Well, cheers!”

The cookies tasted alright. They weren’t the best. Considering they were the first Virgil had ever had, they were pretty good to him. Mr. Sanders dusted the crumbs off his hands, saying, “You can have two today since you helped make them, but after that only one a day, alright?”

“What?”

“Or you can have two if you’re having a bad day. Those are the cookie rules in this household.”

“Okay?” Mr. Sanders nodded affirmatively, reaching up as if trying to pat Virgil on the head, before resorting to patting his shoulder when he realized he couldn’t reach, then heading into the living room.

“You wanna watch a movie? I have a couple you might like.” Virgil bit back a smile as he followed Thomas in. He wasn’t really sure what was going on with Mr. Sanders today, but...he couldn’t lie and say he hated it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think there's gonna be just one or two more chapters until the end! Then I'll be going through all the one-shot story ideas I've gotten while making this (also I'll put the notes I wrote down when I first came up with this story as the very last chapter because idk I always find it interesting comparing what my original rough idea was to how it actually came out) ^-^


	14. Arms Unfolding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas: Hey I'm adopting a new child  
> Virgil: Oh really that's cool—  
> Thomas: *slams adoption papers on the table* It's you sign here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that the Dodie song the title's from is about people trying to have a romantic relationship again after breaking up, but I thought of it right when I woke up this morning and thought some of the lyrics really fit Thomas and Virgil if you take out the very clearly romantic parts
> 
> On another note the beginning with the fidget cube was meant to be in the previous chapter but then stuff happened so if it seems a bit out of place that's probably why

Thomas had to run to the store. He had forgotten to grab some groceries on his way home from the office, and was now putting his shoes back on and grabbing his keys. The babysitter had already left, though. He looked over at his kids as they played video games in the living room, with Virgil sitting behind them watching.

“Hey Virgil!” The bogeyman flinched, snapping his head in Thomas’s direction. “I have to go to the store. I’ll be back in maybe fifteen minutes, okay?”

“But...don’t you have that whole rule?” Virgil asked hesitantly.

“What?”

“Y’know...I’m not supposed to be alone with these guys?” He jabbed a finger at the kids. Thomas blinked. He had honestly forgotten about that rule; it had always been a little bit difficult to maintain with the kids constantly racing around the house, and after everything Virgil had done recently Thomas wasn’t sure if he really saw a point in it anymore.

“Eh, consider that rule obsolete.” Thomas replied with a smile. “I’m not sure if it was ever really needed in the first place.” Virgil’s eyes widened at that. Thomas waved goodbye and stepped out the door. Still, he figured he should probably make his errand a fast one.

After grabbing everything he needed, he lined up at the checkout, absent-mindedly reading all the magazine covers as an old man checked out what had to be a mountain of canned and boxed goods while ranting about the apocalypse.

His eyes drifted a bit lower to see a box full of fidget toys. He had bought one for Logan back when he had first adopted him, and it seemed to really help him focus.

And he remembered seeing Virgil use it a while back, and well...the kid definitely wasn’t neurotypical. He was constantly fidgeting, drumming his nails on any surface in front of him, biting his lip, cracking his knuckles. Thomas wasn’t one to self-diagnose, especially self-diagnosing others, but he felt like it was relatively safe to assume the kid had anxiety.

Thomas picked up a black and purple fidget cube, placing it on the conveyor belt as the old man paid and left with his bags.

He carried the bags inside, placing them down for a moment to close and lock the door. From the living room he heard the sounds of his kids still playing video games.

“Ha! I win!” Roman shouted.

“Oh, you motherf—” Virgil cleared his throat, “—father. Motherfather.”

“Virgil, I think we all know you were about to say motherfucker.” Logan stated. Thomas held back a laugh as the word left his eight year old’s mouth.

“Nope, you’re too young to say that, shut up.”

“You’re only like seven years older than me.”

“That’s almost twice your age. Now don’t tell your dad you said that.”

“Hi Dad!” Patton exclaimed, waving at Thomas with a smile.

“Crap.” Virgil muttered. Thomas hid his laughter behind his hand. “Logan, no potty language, okay? Put your name in the swear jar.” He said as he began putting the groceries away. Logan grumbled to himself, getting up to write his name on a slip of paper.

Virgil appeared out of the shadows in the kitchen. Thomas flinched, mostly out of surprise than fear, he realized. “How’d things go here?” He asked. Virgil shrugged.

“Just kept playing video games. Nothin’ crazy happened.”

“Well that’s good. Here, I got you something.” He pulled out the fidget cube, holding it out to him. Virgil looked at Thomas, then at the cube, then back to Thomas.

“What?”

“It’s a gift. I saw you liked Logan’s so I thought I might as well get you your own.” Virgil slowly reached out a clawed hand, taking the cube delicately and looking it over with large wide eyes. Thomas was admittedly waiting for his slit pupils to dilate like a cat’s, but that unfortunately didn’t happen.

Virgil then shook his head a bit, pocketing the fidget cube and looking up at the ceiling with an awkward cough. “Thanks, I guess.”

“So you like it?”

“It’s alright.” Virgil then quickly escaped into the shadows and went back into the living room. Thomas shrugged, not really knowing what he had expected, and finished up putting away the groceries.

* * *

Thomas had stayed up editing for too long that night. And for some reason, the nights where he stayed up too late were the nights that he had the most interesting thoughts that prevented him from sleeping.

And that was what was happening. He stared up at the pitch black ceiling, having by now gotten used to sleeping without a light in his room; it’s not like Virgil would attack him.

His body was begging for sleep, but his mind was racing. Virgil. He had been alone since he was created, up until he became friends with Thomas’s kids. All of that happened in less than a year.

Had Virgil ever had a friend before then?

Had he ever had literally anyone to lean on or talk to?

Thomas already knew the answer was no. If anything, all Virgil had were the animals he would come across, but Thomas knew from eye-witnesses that animals usually responded just as bad as humans to bogeymen, sometimes even worse.

Holy fuck, Virgil had to live with literally the entire world against him for fourteen whole years, plus the few months from before Patton first saw him.

Thomas couldn’t even begin to imagine what that was like. But then another thought struck him.

Has Virgil ever gotten a hug from anyone besides his kids?

Thomas turned onto his side, closing his eyes and taking a shaky breath.  _ Holy crap I need to help this poor kid. _

* * *

The next morning was chaos as usual as he got Roman, Patton, and Logan ready for school. Virgil arrived late, only a few minutes before they left, and allowed the three to dogpile him before rushing out the door.

When Thomas came back from the bus stop, he came inside to see Virgil sitting on the couch, his legs tucked up close to his chest as he stared blankly at the TV, biting his fingernail. Thomas made a point to make his footsteps a bit louder so as to not surprise him like he did last time.

Sure enough, Virgil’s ears seemed to twitch at the sound. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” He replied bluntly. Thomas sat next to him on the couch, taking a good look at his eyes. They had the same look Roman’s would have whenever he got a nightmare.

Well, now was as good a time as any. “You want a hug?” That ripped away the dazed look in his eyes in an instant. “A what?” Thomas opened his arms up with an encouraging grin.

“Hug time! It’s just something I do whenever one of my kids is upset.”

“One of your...” Virgil stared wide-eyed, looking Thomas up and down as if trying to figure out if he was joking. After seeming to confirm that he was for real, Virgil hesitantly nodded.

Thomas slowly reached out and pulled Virgil in close, making sure to keep his hold loose enough for Virgil to easily break away. The teen’s body was tense and frozen in place, as if he was malfunctioning. He then drew in a breath. Slowly, shakily, he returned the hug, allowing himself to relax.

Thomas made the hug more sturdy and warm. Virgil had never felt safer in his life. He buried his chin in Thomas’s shoulder, soaking up the comfort like a sponge. This was...nice.

Virgil’s body began to tremble, and a sob escaped his lips. Thomas felt hot tears fall onto his shirt. He rubbed gentle circles into Virgil’s back, whispering, “It’s alright, bud. Let it out.”

They stayed like that for hours, Thomas holding Virgil close as he cried out over fourteen years of pain and loneliness, until he couldn’t cry anymore. Soon his sobs turned into dry coughs, his tear ducts had run dry, and his body was tired.

Thomas shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, having Virgil lay his head in his lap. He ran his hands through Virgil’s messy hair, gently rubbing his temples and shushing him quietly. It was something that he always did after one of his kids cried, and Virgil wasn’t by any means an exception.

Virgil’s eyes slid closed, his breathing growing slow and steady.

And then a quiet purring sound escaped his slightly open lips.

Thomas stared. Of all the things he had expected to come out of Virgil’s mouth, purring had never really come to mind.

He shook his head, deciding to save the questions of how and why Virgil could purr for another day. Soon the purring faded off into steady breathing as Virgil drifted off to sleep.

Thomas turned his attention to the TV for a moment, continuing to run his hand through Virgil’s hair.

He took a deep breath, glancing down at the sleeping bogeyman in his lap. He hadn’t put down  _ “Become a father of four” _ as one of his New Year’s Resolutions; he had figured three would be difficult enough.

But now he was filled with that ecstasy, that unbridled parental love that he had gained every time he had adopted a new kid. He smiled down at his son.

“Welcome to the family, Virgil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaa and the story's over! I am gonna be putting up a little extra thing after this, just because I can, and then I can start on the one-shots!


	15. A/N—You've Reached the End!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the main story is complete, I wanted to share the first ever thing I wrote about the series.

So basically the series started after I watched two videos and then ranted to one of my friends at around ten at night over Discord. I’m not joking. I would write down a transcript of what I spammed them with, but it was almost a year ago and I’m not scrolling that far back. So instead, take what I wrote at 11:58 PM on July 4, 2019:

* * *

_ (for the sake of it being more comprehensible I added proper capitalization to their names and added apostrophes, but other than that it's unedited because I find it funnier that way) _

Thomas: idk mid to early 30s?

Virgil: 15

Patton: 10

Logan: 8

Roman: 5

(I think I switched Roman and Patton’s ages because I like big brother Roman more and realized that I wouldn’t get any conflict between them if Roman was a fucking five year old)

Setting:

the bogeyman is known to exist throughout the world, so parents and children know to always keep at least some kind of small light on in their bedrooms at all times. There's only one bogeyman in the world, and it is possible to kill it, but it is difficult to catch. when the old bogeyman dies, a new one (Virgil) is created out of children's fears

as time goes on Virgil watches how parents often try everything in their power to protect their kids from the bogeyman. he sees good parents holding their children, kissing their foreheads, and whispering comforting words into their ears as they rock the kid back to sleep, and over time he begins to desire that kind of comfort himself. he's never been held or comforted, and the only time he had ever encountered a parent themself is when he got hit in the face with a frying pan and his nose started bleeding

he begins wandering from bedroom to bedroom, not even taking souls like a bogeyman's expected to, simply watching the children and making sure they're safe as they sleep

eventually he finds the Sanders household and begins to stay there throughout the day as well, hiding in the small shadows in the house and watching the family go about their lives. life goes on normally, until Thomas brings home a new child named Logan. Roman and Patton quickly accept him as their new brother and he moves into their room as well. Virgil finds it interesting, since he had never actually seen a new kid arrive in a home before, never staying long enough in one place to see that.

eventually Patton, Roman, and Logan see him and of course scream at him. virgil doesn't know how to get them to stop but is just too scared to do anything. Thomas bursts into the room and turns on the light, hitting Virgil over the head with a tripod. Virgil hisses and retreats back into the shadows

one night Virgil's watching over the three kids when he sees Patton tossing and turning in bed because of a nightmare. he sits on the bed next to him and runs a hand through his hair. overtime Patton's nightmare seems to stop. after maybe an hour of this Patton opens his eyes and stares up at Virgil. Virge freezes. Patton's eyes widen and his mouth is open as if hes about to scream. then he blinks and smiles very scared up at Virgil, thanks him shakily and closes his eyes. Virgil eventually goes back to running his hand through Pat's hair

over time some other stuff happens that i haven't figured out yet, but eventually they start calling Virgil their big brother. Thomas is freaking out because they keep leaving the lights off and hes like "no pls I don't want the bogeyman to get you" and Virge just snickers in his corner. Thomas has no idea who this "Virgil" they keep talking about is, but he just assumes hes some kind of imaginary big brother they all made up because they DEFINITELY COULDN'T BE TALKING ABOUT THE BOGEYMAN. sightings of the bogeyman go down to the point where people begin to wonder if hes gone for good and Thomas begins to get suspicious.

let's say that at some point maybe Roman has a nightmare and screams so Thomas runs to the kids' room to calm him down only to find Virgil already hugging him and Roman crying into his chest. Thomas has a panic attack because "o god o fuk o shit why is the bogeyman here and why is he holding my kid". eventually Patton and Logan come over to Virge and Ro too and just sorta lean against Virge maybe? just so casually that it confuses Thomas even more and he doesn't know if Virge is a threat or not. he slowly walks over to Virge and Ro, Virge glances over to him nervously and subconsciously holds roman even closer. Thomas stops and decides that Virgil probably isn't a threat then just shakily walks over to him and his kids and sits down next to Virge and runs a hand through Roman's hair silently but its still really obvious that hes fukin terrified

eventually Virge and Thomas are able to get Lo Pat and Ro back to bed and they're left on their own. Virgil's really awkward and Thomas's really terrified and hes just like "sooooooo....you must be the Virgil they've been talking about". Virgil sorta curls into himself and nods. Thomas doesn't know what to do so he just decides that "hey i don't have work tomorrow, i'll just stay up all night watching my kids and making sure this Virgil guy doesn't do anything" and so he tries his best. eventually he dozes off and Virgil just awkwardly carries him back to his room

over time Virgil and Thomas begin to bond with other stuff i haven't planned yet and eventually Thomas sees Virgil as just another one of his kids and idk maybe the story ends with Virgil's head in Thomas's lap as he runs his hands through Virge's hair as he hums his son to sleep

* * *

So yeah it’s not extremely different from how it actually turned out, aside from the whole “Virgil comforting Roman after a nightmare” thing. I also wanted to add the videos that inspired this whole thing here at the end.

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQC0Q1b-h7U ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQC0Q1b-h7U)

This music video was the one that made me interested in a story where a monster is caring towards a child and in a way acts like a child itself. It also gave me the idea of the kids seeing Virgil when Thomas didn’t, which was something I wanted to do in earlier versions of the story (versions where the kids all saw Virgil together and would keep seeing him in the shadows of their house and try to tell Thomas about him. In most of those versions, Patton would get some kind of injury and Virgil would come out and fix it up for him, which would be how they begin to grow closer)

I’m also aware that this song and the music video actually represent stuff like mental illness and how everyone has their own monsters that they’re dealing with, but I still got story inspiration from it in a more literal way so yeah.

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXB3jg0JURU ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXB3jg0JURU)

This is the video that really gave me the inspiration. It’s a short horror film, not the creepiest I’ve seen, but still be careful if you’re easily frightened. It was a large inspiration for Virgil’s appearance (dem long-ass limbs are creepy) but I also found the bogeyman in it showing the child a doll head to be really interesting. It was like it was trying to communicate or show the kid some sort of kindness. It also gave me the idea of the entire world knowing about the existence of bogeymen, since the mother didn’t seem all too freaked out by it being there. She was just like “yep, same shit as always.” When the bogeyman took the child’s soul at the end I just stared and went “but what if it didn’t do that?”

Thank you to everyone who stuck through to the end of this story, I’m really proud of how it turned out and all the attention it’s gotten. I have plenty of ideas for one-shots that I’ll be adding into the  _ Shadows of the Past, Present, and Future _ series over time! If you have any ideas for one-shots though, you’re welcome to leave them in the comments. It’ll probably take me a long time to get to them, but I promise I will at some point! <3<3<3


End file.
